Will Ole Miss Make it 3 Straight? It’s been a long time since we’ve seen the college football betting community hand out as much love as they have been for the Alabama Crimson Tide. But who can blame them? After all, Nick Saban’s squad has yet to disappoint. The Tide opened the season with an impressive 52-6 routing of USC, and they followed that up with a 38-10 win over the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Although they improved to 2-0 Nick Saban wasn’t too pleased with his team’s performance.
“That’s bad football,” Saban stated. “That’s not the kind of football we want to play here. We have lots of work to do. We’re going to play a lot better teams.”
Saban is right to worry. The Tide’s performance on Saturday was questionable to say the least. The defense played well enough to sack the quarterback 4 times and pick him off twice. But it was the struggles on offense that sent Saban into a frenzy. Week 1 there were no issues and it was smiles all around for both the coach and offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin. Kiffin himself was particularly proud of their performance against USC, considering it was his former employer. But Kiffin’s offense was so disappointing against Western Kentucky that Kiffin earned what Saban himself refers to as an “ass-chewing”.
Saban didn’t hesitate to scold Kiffin and Kiffin showed no willingness to reply. After all, he knew it was well earned. A fumble offense is what gave way to the only blemish on defense for the day, and Kiffin knew he was the one to blame. Jalen Hurts, the first true freshman to start at quarterback for Alabama since 1984, lined up under center for the day and threw for an impressive 287 yards with 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. But failure to convert on third downs and one costly turnover were enough to soil the entire day’s performance for Saban – who knows Alabama faces tougher opposition down the road. Unfortunately for Saban, that opposition lies straight ahead.
Ole Miss may not be college football betting favorites in the SEC, but they could prove to be a problem for Alabama. The last two seasons the Rebels have been a pebble in Alabama’s shoe and Saban knows if they play the way they did against Western Kentucky, then that will mark three consecutive years the Rebels have upset the Tide. Ole Miss started the season with a loss against No. 4 Florida State but rebounded with a 38-13 win over the Wofford Terriers. A win against the Seminoles would have been impressive but either way the Rebels are coming into this matchup with all the momentum. What do the NCAA betting odds have to say about their chances?
Week 3 Saturday, September 17th
Alabama -10 (-110) -400
Mississippi +10 (-110) +325
The Crimson Tide are once again favored by the odds. But fans shouldn’t be so quick to rule out Ole Miss. The rivalry between these two schools forces each other to play at their best. Unfortunately for the Tide, Alabama didn’t look so sharp in their last outing and Saban knows they’ll need a much stronger performance to come out on top. Mix that with the fact that the Rebels are coming in with a 2-year win streak against the Tide and you could have yourself this weekend’s college football betting upset.